tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post8326308499124301791..comments2024-03-28T08:30:57.453-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Crazy BadOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-44783841016894882732013-01-20T20:12:36.712-05:002013-01-20T20:12:36.712-05:00Great post, Lisa. China's pollution problems a...Great post, Lisa. China's pollution problems are visible, but we have variations on these issues in the US as well. The "war on coal" is a good example; there is no "clean coal" technology when it comes to reduction of carbon emissions, despite the industry's propaganda. Could the carbon emissions be sequestered? Perhap, but let's see some pilot projects if the coal industry wants to continue be a fuel supply in a world where the consequences of climate change become clearer every year. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-48662267079974886372013-01-20T14:27:22.059-05:002013-01-20T14:27:22.059-05:00Great story, Jeffrey! I bet your brother and I wer...Great story, Jeffrey! I bet your brother and I were there at about the same time. Other Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08079055348844157557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-49293433663607165632013-01-20T14:25:36.902-05:002013-01-20T14:25:36.902-05:00Very true, Rebecca. Though in some ways the absolu...Very true, Rebecca. Though in some ways the absolute power of the central government is not as "absolute" as people tend to think, especially issues where there isn't a consensus (and there are many of those). Local governments frequently go their own way and flout regulations with impunity. It isn't until they get caught, (usually because something went wrong) or people do get fed up that the situation is addressed. Ultimately you have to see the lack of enforcement in SEPA as evidence of the central government's consensus when it comes to environmental issues, but as mentioned, there's a tremendous amount of pressure to create growth and a lot of money tied up in the system as it is. Some of the articles I linked to talk about what the media openness in covering this crisis might signal, e.g., the willingness of Xi Jinping to tackle these issues, in a much more informed way than I am able to.Other Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08079055348844157557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-25953826948100331492013-01-20T10:14:14.789-05:002013-01-20T10:14:14.789-05:00I don't know why I never thought of this befor...I don't know why I never thought of this before, but for some reason your post brought back to mind a story my late brother told me about his first trip to China. In fact, it was about the first modern day official trip of any US citizen to China. <br /><br />He was the CFO of the shipbuilding arm of a US Fortune 100 company and personally negotiated the first shipbuilding contract in China by a US company.<br /><br />In honor of the deal he was invited on "a tour" of China by the government. He had no idea what to expect, but as it turned out he was on tour at the same time as the first group of US Senators and Congressmen. The US legislators were being shuffled from place to place in buses, dropped off in parking lots, and given group tours of the sites My brother had a private car, driver and personal guide...and was driven up to the front door of every site. <br /><br />One night back at the hotel...all Americans stayed at the same place...the wife of a US Senator walked over to him and said, "You must be very important, who are you?" At 6'5" it was hard to miss him at all those sites.<br /><br />He shrugged, "I'm nobody, just Ken Siger from Pittsburgh." <br /><br />What he brought away from that experience was the Chinese were far more interested it currying favor with business leaders than government leaders.<br /><br />One other experience on that trip stands out in my mind. Every night in every city was another banquet in his honor. At the very first dinner his "interpreter" noticed that he was not eating the shrimp, and asked if anything was wrong. My brother said, "No, it's just a dietary practice of mine."<br /><br />Not another word was said on the subject, but from that point on not another scrap of shrimp...or pork or shellfish...was in any dish served ANYONE at the banquets. From that he learned that, when motivated, the Chinese never miss a trick.<br /><br />Based upon my brother's experiences, I would say that hopefully China will soon be motivated enough by their own people to do what is necessary for the environment, because the world will never make them do it...only self-interest. <br /><br />Thanks for the memories, Lisa.Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-18568214749532836512013-01-20T08:26:49.045-05:002013-01-20T08:26:49.045-05:00It's strange - the typical reason you see here...It's strange - the typical reason you see here for not requiring stricter regulations is that it would hurt businesses (and I wish I could remember where I read an excellent article this week that completely destroyed that myth, but it's escaping me at the moment). Then in China, where the government *does* have the power to unilaterally impose such things, it doesn't want to, and whether that's rooted in national pride or the same sort of economic fears, I have no idea. But it does make me wonder if anything but having large numbers of citizens fed up and willing to demand cleaner air will solve the problem. Rebecca A. Burrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03529525533988404906noreply@blogger.com